Why Would Anyone Like Me?
by robert3A-SN
Summary: Both Annie and Jeff believe that without their defining traits, no one could like them for themselves. But they each prove to each other that this isn't true - starting when Annie gets a rare C and then when Jeff's precious face gets cut up. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: There's a brief, very early spoiler about the class the study group will take next semester.**

Annie needed sleep. She needed sleep after the group's last exhausting adventure, but she didn't get it because their History 101 midterm was the next day. Yet she was too exhausted to make the group study as well as usual, and they were all lucky to get C's – even Annie. As such, when she finally got some sleep hours later, it should have been a relief.

Except for the fact that Jeff found her napping in the library, her face literally buried in her notes and books.

When he finally dared to wake her, she almost literally jumped out of her seat. Then when she remembered where she was and realized that she slept through studying, she literally did jump out of her seat. But she glued herself back on it a millisecond later, determined to make up for lost studying time for her other midterms.

Annie could vaguely hear Jeff talking to her. Whether he was just delivering one-liners or setting up a Winger speech, she didn't bother to figure out. She'd spent enough time getting distracted lately, by Jeff and everyone else, and this is what it got her. The first C of her college career, because she finally let a study group adventure distract her and tire her out.

It wasn't even on par with their 'Season 3' November sweeps stunts, as Abed pointed out in his sleep while she was TRYING to study and stay awake. A hell of a lot of good it did her, however. And now she was screwed forever because of this nonsense!

"Which nonsense? You'll have to narrow it down for me a bit," Annie finally heard Jeff say. But apparently, she hadn't heard herself yell her final thought out loud. As if it wasn't embarrassing enough to yell in a library – even one with Greendale's lax rules about noise.

At least Jeff would be too busy being…..well, Jeff to delve into this any further. He was probably sent to wake Annie up, make sure she hadn't been sent back to the loony bin, then go on his way. For once, it was good to have Jeff do just the bare minimum.

Until he stated, "But I'd like to hear more about the screwed forever bit first." Well, of course _that _couldn't even go right for Annie.

This made her too frustrated to keep quiet, so she just groaned and answered, "Jeff, I got a _C_. I didn't even get a _B _after paintball or Glee club or the pillow fight! My whole History grade is ruined! But I can save my other grades if no one drags me into any more Argo parodies, okay?" she almost growled as she focused back on her notes.

"That didn't exactly answer my question, but it's a start," Jeff commented. "Maybe we can get to your whole 'one bad grade ruined my life' theory by step four."

"It's not just a theory, Jeff!" Annie insisted. "I slipped up just a 'little bit' in high school too, and then look what happened to me! I've got to bounce back _without _taking pills this time, and I can't do that by sleeping! Or letting you distract me! Hell, you guys should encourage me more than anyone!"

"I know that. But tell me why _you _think we should and we can compare notes," Jeff semi-kidded. Yet this wasn't a good time for Jeff's usual nonchalance.

"Jeff, you guys tanked as bad as me! That wouldn't have happened if I was in my right mind! Well, maybe not as much," she conceded, then quickly got back to self-loathing. "You need me to study as much as I need me to study! Otherwise, what am I…." she trailed off.

"Annie?" Jeff piped in after a few seconds. "What am I…." he repeated and left hanging for Annie to fill in the blank. But she did so all too well.

"Then what the hell do you need me for? What am I good for at all? Without my A's, what the _hell _am I?!"

This wasn't exactly a new sentiment from Annie. She voiced something like that to Troy almost two years ago, and asked herself stuff like this for about the last eight years. But she never said anything like that to Jeff before. Why would she?

It's not like he was always the best shoulder to cry on, especially for stuff like this. And it wasn't like he didn't have enough reasons to try and think less of her. He was probably making his exit strategy right now.

Yet Annie was wrong again today – what a shock. But this time, being wrong brought on a very concerned Jeff. He didn't speak, but he did sit down next to Annie and all but freaked her out again – albeit in a different way than before.

"You look….worried," Annie realized. "You don't look too cool to care like usual."

"Even _my _cool side needs a five-minute break sometimes," Jeff said. Although his words still sounded jokey, his tone and face didn't appear that way, which threw Annie off further. "Everyone's best side needs that."

Annie laughed at that, either because it was funny or she was amazed to hear this from Jeff. Or because she didn't quite believe him. But she stopped laughing when Jeff didn't lighten up any further. "Annie, I'm not joking. But I've only got a brief window of sincerity here, so we'll need to speed this up. What's going on with you? Seriously?"

Jeff's actual interest took Annie off the edge. Now that she wasn't overwhelmed by her emotions, she could actually look back at how she acted, what she said and how she was feeling. And she didn't like what she saw – like usual when she got like this. "Jeff, I'm sorry," she said out of habit.

"I usually say that to you, so this _must _be something big," Jeff semi-quipped, but frowned a bit anyway. "See, the widow's closing already."

"It's fine. You don't _always _say it to me anyway, but…." Annie caught herself, as this wasn't the time to get into _that _issue. One years-long personal problem at a time.

"Jeff, I know I probably sounded crazy. You know I get like that when I worry about grades," Annie started.

"But that's usually before you ace them. Seeing you after you didn't…..none of us are used to that," Jeff pointed out.

"I know, I know! Why do you think I work so hard to get those A's?" Annie rhetorically asked. "So I don't go nuts when I don't! Otherwise, I either take pills or get paranoid that I'm worthless! It's stupid but….." she trailed off as she thought some more. "It really isn't. Not _that _much."

Annie was somewhat in between a calm and paranoid state, so Jeff didn't say or do anything sudden. This gave Annie license to explain further. "I need to be a straight A, model student, Jeff. It's who I am. It's what I've defined myself as since I was a little girl. It makes it okay that I'm not perfect in anything else."

"You're threatening to lose me again," Jeff said before biting his tongue – almost literally. Annie noticed this and had the briefest of smiles. But she couldn't fully appreciate Jeff's rare effort to pay attention just yet.

"Jeff, despite what I said a minute ago, I know who I am. I'm pushy, demanding, kind of clingy, almost as naggy as Britta, and I'm far too cheery for most of you. But that's only okay because I'm a great student. Because I can help you study and get you through classes. Because I've been perfect enough to set up a great future after all. Because being a genius cancels out most of the other bad stuff…..but when it doesn't…."

Jeff's jaw clenched, and Annie briefly wondered if he was on edge for her to continue, or just trying not to bite his tongue again. But that didn't work for long, as she finally continued with, "When it doesn't, I lose people, Jeff. I lost my parents, I lost what little friends I had in high school, and I lost everything else. I didn't have anything left to distract them from….the rest of me."

Annie was hearing herself more clearly than before, so she knew when to back off a little. "Maybe I'm being a _little _too hard on myself. But I'm being half ridiculous and half serious. When I screw up like I did on that test, I can't help but think like this. Think like…." She paused before putting together a closing statement.

"If I'm not a perfect genius, then why would anyone put up with me? Why would anyone even like me?"

Annie could have been too far gone to really hear herself, but she wasn't. Albeit just barely. She couldn't even look at Jeff, since she knew how she must have sounded to him. She knew she was a bit over the top, no matter how real her concerns were.

She would have been better off keeping this to herself and studying, instead of reminding Jeff how neurotic and paranoid she really was. Hell, it wasn't like he cared much about grades anyway. He just wanted to skate by – and if she couldn't help him do that, then what use was she? To him or to anyone?

Now it was really time to go before she started crying. Yet she held off long enough to hear the words, "Are you kidding me?" It even sounded like they came from Jeff's voice.

Even if they were, that could have meant anything. He could have been frustrated that it took him this long to see how crazy Annie was. But she couldn't just assume it was for….more flattering reasons.

"Well, you're…..you're _Annie_."

Jeff had said her name countless times in over three years. But he never said it with that much….._reverence _before. This at least told Annie that she had to look at him again.

When she lifted her head up, his face stunned him again with how open it was. But it was his words that stole her attention as they poured out of him.

"You keep thinking you're no fun, but you're never, _ever _boring. You show new layers about yourself almost every time I see you, even after three years. You're more like the mom of the group than the baby sometimes, but you're still really good at it. Even though I have _no _idea where you learned _that _skill from."

Trashing her mom was a guaranteed way to make her laugh, so Annie appreciated that. It let her settle down until Jeff gob smacked her with more things about her.

"You're the only one of us who could live in a Troy and Abed house for a week, let alone a year. Or make it look like a real home. You're a bigger nerd than they are in some ways, but you still make it look kind of cool. You're scared of so many things like failure and letting us down, but you never back down anyway. Hell, you overcome more fears on a daily basis than we have the guts to face in our whole lives."

Annie almost asked "We?" to break up the sappiness and steady her own pulse. Yet Jeff beat her to the punch by getting even more serious.

"You know what it's like to feel alone and worthless. Like no one really understands you or is really interested in trying. Like you may not be good enough for people to try. That's why you stick up for jackasses who don't actually deserve it. Like Pierce." Annie briefly thought Jeff paused before saying "Pierce" but she put that aside for later.

"That's why you always show them there's at least one person who understands them. Maybe better than they ever imagined. That there's at least one person who would do anything for them if they let you. Which they should probably do more often. Because you'd _never _let _anyone_ feel as alone and unloved as you used to be. And they don't. Because of you, they _really_ don't," Jeff concluded.

Once again, Annie couldn't bring herself to look at Jeff. Not out of shame, but embarrassment. And other feelings that it really wasn't the right time to revive. She knew she actually had to say _something _to him, but she couldn't move. She was just too overwhelmed to do anything at all.

Then if that wasn't enough, it gave Jeff room to keep talking.

"One more thing and I swear I'll stop being sappy for a year. Honestly," Annie heard Jeff say with a little of his old snark. "All that 'bad stuff' about you? Just so happens, there's only one person I've ever met that I wouldn't change a _single thing_ about. If I did that, she wouldn't be her. And _then _she wouldn't be…."

Now it was Jeff's turn to trail off, which finally gave Annie time to look at him. He was making a face that Annie was more familiar with – the one where he didn't know what to say when things got too real.

Annie was puzzled that he was making it _now, _after doing so well before. Maybe he'd reached his limit of openness after all. Yet instead of clamping up and running away, Jeff uttered the word, "Special."

It didn't sound that strong, and didn't even sound like his first choice of words. But if Jeff was really tired of being sentimental, this was probably the best he could do.

Nevertheless, he'd already said more than enough for Annie to live on for a while.

Annie wanted to say something equally powerful, even if Jeff was done being emotional. But all the shock, emotional upheaval and questions of the last few minutes were clogged up inside her. She could barely say anything emotional, or else she might collapse under it all.

So she took a page from Jeff and deflected from her emotions instead, merely commenting, "You know I wouldn't be all that if I _wasn'_t a genius, right?"

"Right, but that has nothing to do with grades," Jeff reopened his sincerity window.

"But if you wouldn't change anything about me, then I can't change being obsessed with grades either," Annie pointed out. "So your logic kind of eats itself. I guess that's why I'm the smart one," she tried to say with humor.

"The difference is that _we _won't think less of you if you don't get an A. _Nothing _could make us think any less of you. Not forever," Jeff opened up. "Hell, if we let you off the hook for Chang's firing, there's not much more you could do. Sorry, but C's won't get rid of us that easily, kiddo."

Even the kiddo was a bit of a relief to Annie. Jeff kind of flinched a little afterwards, but she could still dismiss that. Especially when he managed to smile again, which instinctively made Annie smile, like it always did. And with that to calm her down, she could really take in his words, the uncharacteristic sentiment and meaning behind them, and come to a decision.

"Maybe I'd be better off studying back home. At least after a nap first. 90 minutes , _tops_," Annie stressed.

"I would have settled for 60, but that shows what I know," Jeff chuckled. Once Annie started to pack her bags and notes up, he added, "As long as you don't stress out_ too_ much, I trust you to get back on track. I'm just sorry no one told you that five years ago."

"Well, it didn't end up _so _bad," Annie recognized. "No need to change a thing about me, _or_ how I got here. Right?"

Jeff only nodded, which probably meant he was finally tired of talking. Yet when Annie finished packing and got up, Jeff followed her, as if he was escorting her to her car. Without a word, Annie let him.

Yet in the surprisingly comfortable silence, she had time to think of a few more things. There was even enough time left to say them,

"You know, you've never claimed to be the most observant person in the world. At least not about things that aren't on cell phones," Annie started.

"It didn't take a genius to get that, but go on," Jeff said a bit hesitantly.

"So how could _you _see all those wonderful things about me?" Annie asked.

For the briefest of seconds, Annie sensed in herself – and in Jeff's expressionless face – that she might have breached a very loaded topic. Yet that wasn't the one she really wanted to bring up. So once again, she brushed that other stuff aside – which she had gotten really good at doing until now.

"I mean, how can you see that when _I_ couldn't?" Annie expanded. "I know I didn't think anyone could like me for just….._me _for 18 years, but I should have a better idea after four. So shouldn't I know that stuff myself? Without someone else telling me?"

Jeff remained expressionless for a few seconds. Whether he was deep in thought or something else was unclear. But his ultimate answer didn't clear it up, although it wasn't that bad anyway. "Those are some really good questions, Annie. No wonder you're the smart one."

It wasn't as revealing as the rest of Jeff's words. But if he was back to being closed off, it was a sign that things were back to normal.

Annie hadn't gotten an A, and yet things were still as they were. Someone she…..cared about hadn't abandoned her for being less than perfect. In fact, he still liked her no matter how unperfect she was. Maybe the others did too.

Maybe Annie should have indeed known that after four years, but she never had it driven home like this before. Not by anyone in her whole life. Certainly not by Jeff, of all people.

As such, when they got to her car and Annie hugged Jeff, but he held back by patting her on the back – not the head – it didn't bother her. In fact, their usual awkwardness at close contact was more reassuring than ever.

Some things would never change no matter what Annie's grades were. Even if she wanted them to change – _if _she wanted – grades would have nothing to do with it. No matter what they were, at least one person would never determine her worth based on them. Because she was special just for being _Annie._

Maybe that was a good example for more than one person to live by.

As such, Annie had her first peaceful sleep in days, if not weeks or longer, when she got back home. Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't study until 1 a.m. when she woke up. But somehow, the stakes didn't feel as high as they did hours ago.


	2. Chapter 2

In retrospect, it was somewhat inevitable that Annie would exhaust herself too much and lose out on one A. But sadly, it was even more inevitable that Jeff would text while driving and lose control of his Lexus. The only real shock was that it didn't happen until February 2013.

The collision hurt Jeff's chest, but his face took the worst of it. His precious, overly flawless face.

Not only did he suffer bruises, he got a few nasty cuts when the windshield glass shattered. One piece even cut him on the left eye, which made it necessary to put an eye patch on his face. As if the bruises weren't humiliating enough.

While the bruises were projected to go away after a few days, Jeff would likely have to wear the eye patch for over a week. In public.

He wasn't ill enough to stay in the hospital that long, so he couldn't just stay there and have Annie deliver his notes. No matter how badly Jeff tried to make a deal with doctors. So after a day, Jeff had to be sent home – and after another day, he had to go back to Greendale.

The walk to the study room that morning was the longest of Jeff's life. For the first time ever, he didn't want people staring at him in awe. Then again, awe probably wasn't the right word here. More like disgust or pity. Or something less than seething jealousy or uncontrollable lust.

For the first time in over 25 years – 20 at the very least – Jeff's face didn't set a room on fire. Not in a good way, anyway. And without that to fall back on…..

It barely got any better when he was among friends. Troy and Britta were under strict orders not to make any pirate jokes, but they could barely help themselves and often didn't. Abed was under strict orders not to put Jeff's new look in any movies, but he couldn't help proposing a few ideas. Shirley, on the other hand, didn't even try to restrain herself with her motherly concern, which quickly wore thin on Jeff. And Pierce only refrained from crude jokes about Jeff's eye going out for 15 seconds – 10 more than expected.

It was an absolute nightmare for Jeff, as his friends either made him uncomfortable or completely failed to try not to. No matter what, everything they did reminded him that he wasn't gorgeous anymore. Without that to lord over everyone, he had….._nothing _to lord over everyone.

Therefore, Jeff just stayed quiet and tried not to encourage anyone – which took away his other great talent as well. With his beautiful features and beautiful silver tongue out of commission, he was virtually useless. He just spent his time staying out of study group nonsense – moreso than usual – and going right home after school so no one else would see him.

The only other thing Jeff could do was wait for Annie to bug him the most. She'd either mother him worse than Shirley, want him to talk worse than psych major Britta, or obliviously/accidentally make him feel worse like Troy and Abed. It was only a matter of time before her overreaction pushed Jeff over the edge somehow. Why _her _reaction would be the final straw for him…..wasn't worth thinking about.

But he had a lot of time on his hands, because Annie wasn't bothering him. Not in the way he feared.

Even when she told the others to lay off Jeff, she didn't say anything else. She just handed him notes and gave him study tips, without even gawking at his face. She still came to his locker to talk, even though Jeff was in no condition to do wardrobe changes. She bugged him about the usual study group and school nonsense, but said nothing at all about what happened to him.

In fact, she was the only one that never brought up his accident. She wasn't nursing or babying him, nor was she asking over and over if he was all right and needed to talk. This was….not like Annie in the slightest.

What changed in her?

Well, obviously something had changed with him first.

Now that he wasn't super hot, he couldn't get away with his usual crap around Annie. Now that his smiles, way with words and abs weren't working for him, nothing else could distract her from remembering he was a total jerk. That's obviously why she wasn't trying to make him feel better.

All this time, he thought Annie was different than that. Was better than that. That was why he….thought highly of her.

But that was what Jeff got for forgetting that the whole world – not 99% of it –was cruel to non hotties. And this was what came from not being one, if only for a little bit. Just like he always suspected.

The bruises and cuts were almost healed by the time Valentine's Day came. The eye patch would also come off soon as well. All Jeff needed to do was wait it out, get hot again and everything would go back to normal. But the more that Annie acted oblivious about everything, the more he just couldn't take it.

That afternoon, Jeff found Annie back at the library, studying instead of preparing for the school dance. Apparently he couldn't keep her from being obsessed over grades after all. He tried to help _her _through her crisis, and she couldn't do the same for him. All because he was average looking for a week.

Well, that was what he got for showing feelings for once. That was what he got for not being sexy enough to be worth something – even to Annie. Well, if that's the way she wanted to play it….

"It's coming off on Friday," Jeff broke Annie's concentration. "My eye will be all better on Friday. Then it'll be acceptable to care about me again. Okay? Does that meet your approval?"

"What? Jeff, are you all – I mean, uh…." Annie backtracked for some reason.

"No, go on! Am I too ugly to nurse back to health? Apparently! Is it worth talking to me when I can't take off my shirt? Or wink with my good eye? I guess not, so thanks for reminding me!" Jeff overreacted.

"Jeff, you, I…." Annie stammered. "I haven't stopped talking to you. I've talked to you just as much as I always have!"

"But not about this!" Jeff responded, pointing to his eye. "You haven't nagged or babied me like Shirley! You didn't poke fun at me like Britta, or make oblivious jokes like Troy or Pierce, or come up with fantasies like Abed! I'm deformed and you haven't done _anything_!" he yelled. "You're acting like, like…."

"Like what?" was all Annie had.

"Like I didn't get cut up at all!" Jeff groaned.

But before he could keep ranting, Annie nodded in a quick, intense fashion. That_ had_ to mean something.

"Wait, that means something?" Jeff asked. When Annie nodded again, Jeff suspected he had to do some thinking. "Why would you….it makes no sense!"

"Do you _want _me to treat you like they did?" Annie asked, then seemed to come to her own realization. "You….you really do, don't you?"

"I don't know! They made me feel like a freak! Especially when they tried not to and failed miserably!" Jeff lamented. "You just….you treated me like….like I was…."

At that point, Jeff actually reviewed how Annie treated him in the last week. He matched it with how she treated him in the past, and with the words and hints she gave him just now. When the puzzle pieces started to fit together, Jeff was gob smacked with a theory.

"Like I was normal," he started. "Like you would have talked to me if I wasn't ugly. Like I was….no different from before. Even though I am."

"No, you're not, Jeff. That was the point," Annie expanded.

"Right. If I knew what that point was, it might help me out here," Jeff requested.

"Jeff, I know how fragile you are about your looks. Even before that little freak out just now," Annie poked fun at a little. "I just wanted one person to treat you exactly the same as always, whether you looked flawless or not. The others weren't that good at it, so I figured I'd try. If I didn't remind you of your….condition, maybe you'd feel better for a little while."

"So you just pretended there was nothing wrong at all?" Jeff clarified.

"Well, I learned from the best," Annie mentioned, before looking embarrassed. Jeff struggled to figure out why, until he had a bit of a good idea. However, this wasn't quite the time to feel…..something about that old wound between him and Annie quite yet.

"So, um, that's what this was about?" Jeff recovered less than smoothly. "Not bugging me about how deformed I am?"

"Jeff, you're not deformed!" Annie recovered. "And even if you were, it wouldn't matter! Your looks are a great thing about you, but they're not the only thing! They're just a bonus! I'd still care about you as much if you had a little body fat! It'd probably make you healthier, really!"

But before Jeff could argue that point, Annie continued with, "It's kind of like how people still care about me. Even with a C on my permanent record."

Jeff's eyebrows raised in recognition, and a little admiration, of how Annie turned her argument around. "Good one, Edison," Jeff praised, before he thought on it some more and felt a little less flattered. "But you have good stuff other than grades. I'm….a different example."

"Jeff, don't you say that," Annie warned.

"Annie, be honest," Jeff set up, now back on a self-loathing roll. "If I wasn't perfect man meat from the start, would you have let me off the hook for all the crap I pulled on you? Would you have even let me get close enough to pull that crap on you? Without my perfect looks, I can't be charming and witty, and without that….I can't trick people into having faith in me. Certainly not people who usually know better."

Annie looked sad and stunned for a moment, which seemed to prove Jeff's point. It's not like he wanted to make her finally see the truth. But it was better she did now before getting his hopes up again. If he'd done this three years ago, maybe a lot of things would have been easier.

However, he felt nowhere near easy when Annie turned back to him with a deep, offended and even sad frown.

"Jeff, if you _really _think I'm _that _shallow, after all these years…." she left hanging as she put her anger back in check. "I thought you knew me better than that. I thought you did three months ago, anyway. And _that _had nothing to do with how hot you are, by the way."

"Annie –" Jeff could barely get out before Annie struck again.

"Jeff, I was so scared about you, I couldn't stop crying after your accident!" Annie started explaining. "I could barely stop even after they said you were alive! I was so worried and relieved, I barely remembered you'd hate it if I acted like that around you! Then I fought _every_ natural instinct I had to hug you, nurse you back to health and bring up things you didn't want to hear! All because I knew it wasn't what you wanted! Why would I do that for someone I just liked for their looks?"

Jeff rarely had any defense for Annie's anger and sadness when he was gorgeous. He certainly had no answer for it now, that was for sure. The best he could do was excuse it away by saying, "Well….you could have done it just to make us even. You didn't have to mean it."

"Jeff, does that sound like me either?" Annie frowned.

"No, it sounds more like me, and _that's _the point!" Jeff rebounded. "That's why people don't….go to that much trouble for me! Not without my Winger charm or perfect face! Why else would they…."

"Like you?" Annie filled in for him.

Jeff thought hard to think of an alternate answer. But Annie, as always, made it harder for him to hide. So he conceded and confirmed, "Kind of. I mean, like I said….it made it easier for you to forgive me."

"Jeff, how could I forgive you when you never said you were sorry?" Annie reminded him, which made Jeff flinch this time. Yet Annie stayed undaunted and continued, "And yet you're still…..the most important person in the world to me. Even _your _face and abs can't do that on their own."

"Now you're just insulting them," Jeff said, trying hard to stay stable.

"Not as much as you insult the rest of you," Annie pointed out. "But the rest of you knows me better than anyone I've ever met. It's the reason why I have a real group of friends and a real family for the first time. It shows me no matter how…..incredibly flawed someone can be, they can still be a good person. They can even be a real hero when someone needs them to be…..like after a bad grade or identity crisis, or stuff like that," she tried to say nonchalantly.

"But I only did that because…." Jeff started.

"Because you care about me. Not because you were handsome when you did it," Annie assured.

"But I'm not…." Jeff scrambled to find the right follow-up word. He settled on, "I'm not confident enough without my looks to fall back on."

"And yet here you are. You're facing real emotional issues right now, Jeff. Your looks didn't help you do that before," Annie noted.

"But that's because of you, not me!" Jeff argued. "You….bring that out in me."

"And not your looks, no matter what they are. What does that tell you?" Annie challenged.

Jeff couldn't answer out loud, although a bunch of answers were being knocked around in his brain. The kind of answers he'd never dared to believe before.

Yet for all that, Annie was the one who now looked ashamed. "I should have you told this right away, shouldn't I? I mean, you said all those incredible things about me when I needed it. But I just kept everything to myself when you needed it."

"Because you thought it's what I wanted. And it usually is," Jeff admitted. "No one who just likes my looks could know me that well." Nevertheless, something else sunk in for Jeff.

"But maybe I don't need that all the time. Not from everyone. I mean, knowing you care that much…." He narrowly stopped himself from going deeper and finished, "Hey I said I liked you even when you annoyed me, right?"

Annie nearly made her "Aww" face, but still looked hesitant. She also backed her hand away when it got close to laying on top of Jeff's. Yet when Jeff noticed that and figured out why, he raised his hand up to hers, letting her know she could get emotional. Once she got permission, she wasted no time with it and hugged him within an inch of his life.

When she adjusted enough to let him breathe and relax, she talked without sounding too teary. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking straight because I was _so_ worried about you. Not your face or body, _you_. You insecure, shallow idiot," she laughed/sobbed. "I promise you'll never have to doubt that again. Not from me."

"Okay, I believe you, happy now?" Jeff said with comical annoyance. Once Annie could tell it was comical, she chuckled a bit and pulled back.

"You'll be fine, Jeff. Once you hide out from the Valentine's dance, you'll make it to Friday in no time," Annie promised.

"Maybe I _should_ go," Jeff said before he could stop himself. "I mean, it's our last Valentine's here. And it's the last chance for the masses to gawk at my eye patch. I get those two things over with, I'll never have to do them again."

"That's an interesting way to look at it," Annie analyzed. "So….I guess I'll see you there, then," she concluded a bit suddenly. Jeff then saw her focus on her books rather quickly, and then spoke before thinking yet again.

"Maybe you don't have to wait. Maybe I could pick you up and take you there. Like, together," Jeff winced, more from his style than from what he was actually asking.

"What? You mean like a date?" Annie asked, but backtracked again and stated, "Sorry, that's not what I meant."

"Please stop apologizing," Jeff sighed. "Don't hold back because I might act stupid. Trust me, you're fine. You're really fine."

And then Jeff got hit with one final realization. Well, less a realization than a memory.

"You're fine…." Jeff muttered without explaining out loud. Unknown to Annie, he was answering the last question he had to himself before his car accident. In that split second when he was awake during the crash, thinking he might die, he asked himself one thing before he was knocked out.

The last conscious thought he had in the face of his possible death was, _"Is Annie gonna be okay?"_

His panic over his eye, body and Lexus made him forget all that after he woke up. Now that his memory returned, he realized that Annie was fine. Despite his eye patch and temporary lack of a perfect body, she was fine because Jeff was alive. Because plain old Jeff Winger – nothing more and nothing less – was still in her life.

Maybe it was time he was in her life a lot more.

"Annie, I mean it exactly like a date," Jeff promised. Yet his old instinct to sound less open came back, and he added, "Then they won't just bug me about my eye patch, right?"

So he still needed work on being honest and emotional. But he recovered to add, "And I'm sure there'd be other benefits too." It seemed to work just enough, as Annie slowly but surely started to light up.

"If you put it that way…." Annie accepted, her smile almost splitting her face before getting it back under control. "Can I do a little more studying first?"

"Really? So much for you taking that less seriously, huh?" Jeff joked, if only so he wouldn't look too goofy smiling himself. After all, he could barely pull off a goofy, swoony smile when his face was perfect.

"Oh, I am. I would have studied for another hour before, but now it's just 30 minutes," Annie assured. "I mean, I'm still gonna study hard no matter what! Just less like a crazy person, that's all."

"Right," Jeff agreed – while seeing how that might apply to facial care too. _Might_.

But for the first time since his accident, Jeff wasn't thinking about how his face looked when he got to the dance. Maybe he wasn't thinking about that for the first time since he came to Greendale, if not longer.

It didn't mean he wasn't paranoid about how he looked being on a date with Annie. But he knew for years he'd be like that if he gave himself the chance. What he didn't know for years – both on the Annie date issue and the face issue – is how those concerns would melt away after just a few minutes with Annie.

Jeff knew Annie didn't see him as a freak, or pity case, or as nothing more than a gorgeous man slab. In return, he stopped seeing her as a childish, naïve little girl – or as someone who could wreck his life in a number of ways if she got too close. Not that he hadn't started to do those things already, if only a little.

But with this final push, this wasn't a date between a narcissistic, shallow jackass and a type-A, grade obsessed schoolgirl. It was just a date between Jeff Winger and Annie Edison.

For the first time that either of them could remember, they weren't trying to be anything else. And when they were with each other, they could finally stop trying.

**THE END**


End file.
